


Cutting Ties (Four Out of Five)

by LadyMisery



Series: Samurai of Hyuga Drabbles [1]
Category: Samurai of Hyuga (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Character Study, Other, because this series has great characters that inspires me to write, first of many drabbles for samurai of hyuga, mentally and otherwise, ronin is fucked up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:49:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23997802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMisery/pseuds/LadyMisery
Summary: They found Sensei cradling the boy's head, unresponsive to their calls. She drifted like a spectre across the battlefield, unmindful of the chaos around her.
Series: Samurai of Hyuga Drabbles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1730590
Kudos: 3





	Cutting Ties (Four Out of Five)

Masashi was not here, fortunately, but this boy stood in his place. This kid the same age as her charge from the village she had dedicated herself to protecting. Those were reasons enough to protect him as determinedly as she had Masashi. “ _You're obsessed with innocence, a sick fascination... obsessed with innocence, a sick fascination..._ innocence.” The katana-wielder didn’t know who spoke the words ringing in her ears, but the scar on her stomach burned like flame eating her inside out. Ige was the youngest of her students, a few years older than her charge, but with the same earlier sheltered personality and fondness for romantic dramas. She could even see the similarities between Sadao and herself.

The line was slashed red across his throat and when her eyes turned upward to his face, those eyes _greyblackgold_ were glassy like marbles. The head… fell separated from it’s slumping shoulders. Held up by fingers tangled in _blondblackbrown_ hair to the scalp being stripped from skull. The ronin’s own eyes were as dead as the boy’s she had sworn to protect, brown not burning yellow. She didn’t hear the hoarse scream that tore from her mouth but the familiar taste of copper flooded her tongue. _Failure_.

No matter the victory they had won over General Shato's samurai, this was failure. The one that replayed in her mind every sleepless night, scar aching, imagining what would have happened to Ju-Masashi if they hadn't been aided by the spirits and their companions in their escape and survival. Each time she had, the vision only twisted and worsened further, gore and almost-grief making her breathless and her wrist pained. Yet... none of her imaginations came even close to this, holding his head - _deaddeaddead_ , the word has never had such meaning even as an assassin - in her weak, unworthy hands. This wasn't the once wielder of a great legended katana, not even a ronin or assassin or warrior, just a woman _broken_ as she had never been before. 

She had subscummed to the oni Shiroshima's greedy influence, the Baron's memory-destroying magic, even to her rage and heartbreak that last night at the orphanage and her final day with Sensei.. and... and... _Juu-chan_. Those treacherous paths she followed only made her stronger in the end. This was not them. This was not Jun or Masashi, not the faceless figures from her childhood young and aged, this was _Ige_. Shattered to pieces in mind, spirit, body - she could only recognize that now. Ige, who deserved a far better fate than the be abandoned by Sadao, to die at the hands of Shinsengumi for some demon's cruel game, to have all that was left him beside his treasured katana be held in her stained hands. The ronin was not innocent, never was. Ige had been before he had followed her to his death. _As they all will_. Nishi's words echoed in her blank mind, " _you'll be the death of that boy_."

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a peek at my ronin's mind during the fight against General Shato's samurai. I like flawed, fucked up characters and that's what she is. Jun's words have some truth to them, and she *is* overprotective and obsessed with defending her charges' innocence even when unintentionally corrupting it. 
> 
> In her story, she's a few years older than Jun which changes their dynamic quite a bit. She was the senpai in their dynamic after becoming Gensai's student and later a teacher herself - Tanimura Champions/Kohaku-senpai/Ronin-Sensei, Jun/Ronin-senpai/Gensai-Sensei. 
> 
> She projects her twisted feelings towards Jun onto Masashi onto Ige onto anyone she sees as worthy of her possessive protection. She will fight for the other members of her merry band of misfits ie Toshio, Hatch, Momoko but in a very different way. She has her own reasons for this, namely being the orphanage and that figure for her own mother as a young child before she became an orphan - which she doesn't remember but is imprinted into her mind still. 
> 
> Despite the hopeless tone with Ronin being 'broken', it is for the better in the long run. She stops seeing Jun, Masashi, Ige and such as one figure in her mind to guard like a vicious dog. She was able to recognize them as full, individual people and not prized pawns to possess. The trust that had slowly, mutually grown between her and Masashi, with her anxiously allowing his independence could finally flourish. She had no choice but to believe in her charge now, his ability to protect himself as she protected him. Even when she feels like she can't after Ige's death. Time heals all wounds. With Jun's return and her memories resurfacing, she has a bit of a relapse but is stronger than ever. Her and Masashi become a duo of two true equals and Ronin a much healthier person in mind and spirit ♡ 
> 
> I'm obsessed with this character and her relationship dynamics that's 85% canon at this point, 15% my own headcanons. I feel like I could write about this Samurai of Hyuga series for hooours.


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